sănătos

Forms

sănătos m or n (feminine singular sănătoasă, masculine plural sănătoși, feminine/neuter plural sănătoase)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *sānitōsus (“healthy”), a form not recorded in Latin texts, built on sānitās (“health”) with the adjective suffix -ōsus.^[2][3][4][1] The Latin noun comes from sānus (“healthy, sound”).^[1][5] Pușcariu took the reconstructed form as a shortening of *sānitātōsus.^[6][7]

The adjective survives south of the Danube: Aromanian sãnãtos and Megleno-Romanian sînitos.^[2][8] Outside Romanian the same formation is found only in a few southern dialects, among them Campidanese sanidozu, and in Albanian shëndoshë (“healthy”).^[2][9][6][1]

Not everyone accepts the Latin form.^[7] Graur argued that Șăineanu was right to see the word as abstracted from sănătate inside Romanian, and that the starred Latin form was set up by Candrea only by comparing a few Italian, French and Albanian dialect words.^[7][10] Ciorănescu, the DEX and MDA2 keep the Latin derivation.^[2][4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is the 16th-century Codicele Voronețean, at Acts 23:30.^[11] MDA2 dates the word to Coresi's Evanghelie cu învățătură of 1581, where the sense is “sound, in good health”: „De iaste ochiul sănătos, luminează trupul” “if the eye is sound, it gives light to the body”.^[3][12]

Semantic evolution

The core sense, “free of illness”, spread to plants and fruit that are not diseased, to objects that are whole and undamaged, and figuratively to what is morally sound or well founded.^[4][3] A second line of senses is “good for the health, wholesome”: Klein's dictionary of 1801 already glosses it with Latin sanus and salubris, and the Lexicon de la Buda (1825) separates a healthy person or animal from wholesome food, drink or air.^[13][14] From there it came to mean “sensible, wise”, as in minte sănătoasă “a sound mind”.^[4][15]

The word is common in greetings: rămâi sănătos! “keep well!” to someone staying behind and mergi sănătos! to someone leaving.^[11][15] The proverb fuga-i rușinoasă, dar e sănătoasă “flight is shameful but healthy” is behind the phrase a o lua la sănătoasa “to take to one's heels”.^[11][2][6] Comparisons strengthen the sense: sănătos ca piatra, ca fierul, ca tunul “as sound as a stone, as iron, as a cannon”.^[11]

Romanian formed nesănătos “unhealthy” and însănătoși “to recover” from it.^[2] Ciorănescu adds that the plant name sunătoare (St John's wort), from its healing virtues, was reshaped by folk etymology as if it came from suna “to ring”.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1563–1583 – the Codicele Voronețean, the first record.^[11]
• 1581 – Coresi's Evanghelie cu învățătură.^[3][12]
• 1648 – the New Testament of Bălgrad: „nevolnicii sănătoși” “the sick made healthy”.^[12]
• 1649 – Mardarie's Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.^[16]
• 1688 – the Bucharest Bible, with 37 occurrences of the masculine singular.^[17]
• 1801 – Klein's dictionary: Latin sanus and salubris.^[13]
• 1825 – the Lexicon de la Buda separates “healthy” from “wholesome”.^[14]

Meanings

Adjective

1. healthy, not suffering from any illness or infirmity; of plants or fruit, not diseased or spoiled; of objects, whole, in good repair: Bunicul e încă sănătos la optzeci de ani.^[4][3]
2. (figurative) Morally sound, honest; firmly established, lasting.^[4]
3. Good for the health, wholesome, salubrious: aer sănătos “healthy air”.^[4][11]
4. (figurative) sensible, wise; of actions, serious, thorough.^[4]

Adverb

1. Rationally, soundly: a judeca sănătos “to think sensibly”.^[18]
2. (colloquial) heartily, with gusto: a râde sănătos “to laugh heartily”;^[4][18] a mânca sănătos “to eat heartily”.^[4][18]

Word family

• nesănătos
• însănătoși

Related words

• sănătate
• Aromanian sãnãtos
• Latin sānitās

Usage notes

Common phrases: a se face sănătos “to get well”;^[4] să fii sănătos! “good health to you!”, also an ironic “suit yourself”;^[4] a nu fi sănătos (la minte) “to be a bit mad”;^[4] a o lua la sănătoasa “to run away”.^[4] MDA2 records a regional variant beginning sân- or sin-.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. sănătate
3. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 772
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 980
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 135
7. ^ a b c Graur, Alexandru (1975), Alte etimologii românești, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. sănătos
8. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 920
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 7580a
10. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 563
11. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. sănătos
12. ^ a b c Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. sănătos
13. ^ a b Gáldi, László (ed.) (1944), Samuel Klein: Dictionarium valachico-latinum. Primul dicționar al limbii române, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Pázmány Péter Tudományegyetemi Román Intézet (Klein's dictionary of 1801, with Gáldi's etymological study), p. 436
14. ^ a b Lesicon românescu-latinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai mulți autori, în cursul a trideci și mai multor ani s-au lucrat (1825), Buda: Typographia Universității (the Lexicon of Buda, ed. Petru Maior et al.), p. 607
15. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1160
16. ^ Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. s.v. sănătos
17. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Gen 29:6
18. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. sănătos